A prominent cashew farmer and community leader of the agrarian community of Aghara in the Kabba-Bunu Local Government Area of Kogi State, Chief David Obadofin, who was kidnapped on Easter Sunday has reportedly died in the kidnappers’ den.
He was said to have died last Thursday, 12 days after he was kidnapped.
A woman kidnapped alongside him, Temidayo Elewa, has however been set free.
She was freed at Obajana in Lokoja Local Government Area of the state from where family members picked her up on Saturday morning for medical attention.
A source involved in the negotiation told journalists that when the abductors noticed that Pa. Obadofin was becoming too weak, so they agreed to collect N2m for the release of the two victims and started mounting pressure for the payment.
Meanwhile, they blindfolded Temidayo and separated her to a different location. Unfortunately, Pa Obadofin died before the ransom could be delivered.
Conscious of the advance of a search group, made up of hunters, vigilantes and some Fulani volunteers, the gunmen set Temidayo free on Thursday.
She roamed the jungle alone from Thursday to Friday before she met a sawing machine operator, who eventually led her to freedom.
Her claims that the search party nabbed one of the suspects who helped in efforts to recover Pa Obadofin’s corpse could not be ascertained.
